Left Behind
by Miss Madd
Summary: On that one night, Ed is left behind by Alphonse, who ran after Hohenheim. Roy, seeing this, ponders Alphonse's abandonment of his brother... and discovers something else in the process. RoyEd if you squint really hard. Takes place near the end of the


_**Left Behind**_

_**By: Madd Envy Freak**_

_**A/N: Set during the episode where Hohenheim comes home. **_

_**Summary: Roy's thoughts on Al as he left with his father, and on how much ed has changed. Slight RoyxEd, if you look look into it that way. **_

Roy heard the door slam shut as Al ran after Hohenheim.

"Al…?"

Roy cringed inwardly, that voice was just so damn… _sad_. Chancing a glance over at the golden haired boy still standing at the door, he frowned seeing the look on the boy's face matched his tone perfectly.

It only lasted an instant.

Ed shrugged, face becoming impassive. With a final, "I'm going to bed," and a forced yawn, the young man left the room.

Roy sat there at the table and listened to the soft, muffled sobs of the elder Elric. Looking back down into the dark, murky liquid that was his coffee, he let out a suffering sigh. It was strange, how the younger boy, Alphonse, could chose that man over his own brother. A brother who risked his life everyday trying to get back a body they had both lost. Hohenheim, a man who had left them at a young age, was apparently more important to the young man bound in armor. Roy frowned.

The sobs in the other room had silenced down and were no longer noticeable.

Standing up, Roy let out another sigh as he walked over to the bedroom door and gently pushed it open. Walking across the moonlight room, he stood above Ed as he slept, tears still wetting his young face.

Roy wondered when Ed had become this.

He remembered it so well, the day he came to see him the first time. Ed had been younger then, only a child. He was pudgy, and his face still round with the baby fat of obvious innocence. An innocence he never really had.

Now, as he looked at him, he no longer saw the child. Edward had grown up in his time with the military. Even now, asleep, his face was hard and lined with premature age, a pool of blood against snow screaming out his sins.

Gently reaching out, he stroked the cheek of the boy--no, the young. He could never call Edward a child again. The thought itself brought a frown to Roy's face. It didn't seem possible, in a way, for Ed to become a man. Yet, the proof was laying there before him.

Walking silently out of the room, he went back to stand vigil over the kitchen until Alphonse came back to the Rockbell residence. He would be back by morning, Roy knew, because Hohenheim would leave again just as suddenly as he came.

He always did.

---

Alphonse snuck into the kitchen, attempting to make no sound as he prepared food for his travel worn father. When satisfied with the meal before him, he turned around to see Roy Mustang leaning on the doorframe, frowning at him.

"Going somewhere, Alphonse?"

Al cringed slightly at the tone of Roy's voice, and the look on Roy's face itself. Anger. Annoyance. Was that disappointment?

"Were you waiting up for me, Mustang Taisa?" Al managed to ask, bowing slightly in embarrassment.

"Yes."

Al cringed again. He sounded so… final. After a few moments of silence, Roy sighed, shook his head, and left the room. Al blinked at the colonel's retreating back as he heard Roy mutter to himself. Feeling confused by it all, Al left the kitchen quickly to return to his father.

Roy closed the door to his room as he laid on the bed, disheveled hair falling in his eyes. Upon hearing the door open a moment later, he snapped, "Go away, Hawkeye. It's too early for paperwork."

"Well, good thing I'm not Hawkeye, Bastard Taisa. She would have shot you for that."

Roy looked up blinking at the sight of Ed standing in his doorway, sleep still evident in his eyes.

"Fullmetal? What are you doing up this early?"

Ed shrugged offhandedly and muttered, "Just wanted to say thanks, old man."

Roy smug smirk melted into a gentle smile as he watched Ed quickly leave the room with a muffled, "Bastard watching me sleep… stalker…"

----

_**The End.**_

_**Ok, was I the only one who noticed that Ed changes through the anime? Seriously! Compare the beginning with the end, and he looks different, but the same. You know, young compared to old. It's weird. I hadn't even realized it:P**_


End file.
